Reforgene raises hundreds of millions of RMB in a new financing round to advance gene editing drug development

December 30, 2024. Guangzhou Reforgene Medicine Co., Ltd. ("Reforgene") announced the successful completion of a new financing round of several hundred million RMB. The round was led by Guangzhou Industrial Investment Capital, with participation from Guangzhou Financial Holdings, Kejin Holdings and existing shareholder HK-Macau Capital, among other institutions. The funds will be mainly used to advance Reforgene's gene editing drug clinical trials, expand the subsequent R&D pipeline, and strengthen core technology innovation.

Gene editing technology is a brilliant jewel in the crown of biotechnology. Reforgene is a globally minded leading gene editing innovative drug company in this field. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Guangzhou, the company is committed to providing curative medicines for patients worldwide. With strong innovation capabilities, Reforgene has achieved multiple world-leading results in gene editing drug development. At present, Reforgene is the only innovative technology company in the world that has achieved cures for both alpha- and beta-thalassemia, two inherited blood diseases.

Thalassemia has a broad affected population worldwide, with major unmet clinical needs. Reforgene's lead product, the beta-thalassemia medicine RM001, is the first in the world to conduct clinical research based on a novel-target gene editing approach, and has achieved internationally leading clinical efficacy: all treated subjects rapidly achieved transfusion independence and were cured, with best-in-class potential. A confirmatory clinical trial is expected to begin in the near future. At the same time, Reforgene has achieved a major breakthrough in alpha-thalassemia: its innovative gene editing medicine RM004 has successfully cured its first patient, demonstrating first-in-class potential. It is the first and only innovative medicine internationally to achieve a cure for an alpha-thalassemia patient.

In ophthalmology, RM101, the world's first medicine for the retinal disease Usher syndrome, obtained approval from regulators in both China and the United States in 2024 to conduct clinical trials. In its mid- and long-term plans, the company has also laid out in vivo gene editing therapies for major diseases in the CNS and liver fields, with some projects already achieving stage progress.

As a key part of its corporate strategy, Reforgene has built the core technology platform TIPBAIG™, which combines genomics, artificial intelligence and experimental biology to drive innovation in gene editing tools and other key technologies. Reforgene is one of the few innovative technology companies in China with a proprietary portfolio of gene editing technology tools, and has laid out multiple invention patent families worldwide, including CRISPR/Cas12, CRISPR/Cas13 and base editing systems, forming a powerful intellectual property network.

At present, Reforgene is leading multiple national, provincial and municipal science and technology projects, including the "disruptive technology innovation special project of the National Key R&D Program" and the "2022 Guangdong Provincial Key Area R&D Program", and has been selected as a "China Potential Unicorn Enterprise" for two consecutive years and a "Guangzhou Future Unicorn Enterprise" for three consecutive years. In addition, the company has received many honors from industry media and professional institutions, such as "2024 Guangzhou Top 10 Strongest Science and Technology Bellwethers", "2024 Future Healthcare Top 100, China Innovative Medicine and Biologics List" and "2023 Future Healthcare Top 100, China Innovative Biopharmaceutical List".

At a time when global competition in life science innovation is white-hot, this financing is not only an injection of capital for Reforgene, but also a vote of market trust. "We are deeply honored to obtain this important financing in the current market environment. This financing is not only high recognition of our innovation capability and R&D achievements, but also injects strong momentum into our subsequent strategic plans," Reforgene said. "Gene editing technology acts on the most fundamental genetic code of life, bringing curative value to disease treatment; it is a paradigm shift. In this field, we will fully unleash the value of this revolutionary technology for life and health. We thank our new and existing investors for their trust and support. The innovation environment is full of challenges and the road is difficult, but we will always hold firm to the strong belief of innovating for life, move forward against the wind, and promote Reforgene's development into a leading enterprise in the global biomedical field."

The head of Guangzhou Industrial Investment Capital said: "The biomedical and health industry is one of the globally watched emerging pillar industries, and a strategic emerging industry in which we focus our investment. We highly value the core value of the CGT sector in the life sciences. This investment in Reforgene reflects not only our continued optimism about the CGT sector, but also our investment philosophy. We value Reforgene's innovation capability and development potential, and look forward to its disruptive innovation in gene editing bringing transformation to the entire industry. Going forward, Guangzhou Industrial Investment Capital will strengthen post-investment management and empowerment to help Reforgene accelerate the R&D and industrialization of gene editing innovative drugs."

Nie Huiming, head of biomedical investment at Guangzhou Financial Holdings Fund, said: "Technological innovation in the biomedical industry is key to driving the progress of the entire industry. We pay special attention to the momentum of cutting-edge, high-end pharmaceutical innovation and are willing to walk with outstanding entrepreneurs and support their exploration and innovation. In investing in Reforgene, we value not only its leading position in the industry, but also its team potential and persistent pursuit of innovation. We believe its technology will in the future enable vast numbers of patients to obtain safe, controllable and curative treatment outcomes in clinical disease treatment."

Kejin Holdings said: "In the past two years, we have actively focused on and promoted investment in the cell and gene therapy (CGT) sector, combining 'local cultivation plus external attraction' to help Guangzhou accelerate the building of a CGT industry ecosystem. As a leading representative of gene editing drug development in China and even globally, Guangzhou Reforgene's beta-thalassemia pipeline drug has helped 19 patients completely escape transfusion dependence in early clinical trials, which not only saved the lives of these young patients and their families, but also relieved the pressure on regional blood banks, demonstrating enormous social benefit. Their exploration and practice in biotechnology has proved the prospects and value of gene therapy medicines, which fits our commitment to incubating modern urban new quality productive forces and adds innovative medical momentum to the health and well-being of urban residents."

Liu Zeshan, managing partner of HK-Macau Capital, said: "HK-Macau Capital focuses on investment in the life sciences. Based on our research on and understanding of basic science, we believe gene therapy is one of the frontier medical fields with the greatest commercial value in the future. As an investor in Reforgene for two consecutive rounds, we have accompanied the company and witnessed its sustained and healthy development. This follow-on investment is based on our belief in the best-in-class and first-in-class potential of Reforgene's gene editing medicines, and its ability to address patients' urgent clinical needs. We look forward to the company accelerating clinical translation, launching as soon as possible, and contributing to patient health."

About Guangzhou Industrial Investment Capital

Guangzhou Industrial Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd. ("Guangzhou Industrial Investment Capital") was formerly Guangzhou SASAC Development Holding Co., Ltd., the first state-owned capital investment and operation platform established in Guangzhou in 2016, and was reorganized for operation on December 3, 2021. Guangzhou Industrial Investment Capital adheres to the philosophy of "investing in Guangzhou, investing in the real economy and investing in the future", establishes the industrial development mindset of "patient capital", and, based on its three functional positions as a strategic investment development platform, a state-owned equity holding platform and a capital operation management platform, actively plays the dual roles of industrial investment bank and capital operator. It controls or holds stakes in more than 10 listed companies including GAC Group, Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical, Guangzhou Development, Zhujiang Brewery, Guangzhou Restaurant, Zhujiang Piano, Lingnan Holdings, PowerChina, Farasis Energy and Metro Design Institute, as well as a group of leading enterprises such as Yuexiu Group, Guoxin Securities, Tsinghua Unigroup, Yuexin Semiconductor and CAS Space. It has led the establishment and operation of the 150-billion-RMB Guangzhou Industrial Investment Fund of Funds and the 50-billion-RMB Guangzhou Innovation Investment Fund of Funds. The Group has 4 fund management companies, has invested in and jointly established more than 50 funds with leading institutions, provides full-chain fund investment services, and has ranked among the "Top 500 Chinese Enterprises" and "Top 500 Chinese Service Enterprises" for five consecutive years, striving to build a market-oriented, professional and internationalized first-class state-owned capital investment and operation platform.

About Guangzhou Financial Holdings

As the equity investment fund management platform under Guangzhou Financial Holdings Group, a Guangzhou municipal state-owned enterprise, Guangzhou Financial Holdings Fund actively gives play to the "five-in-one" function of its fund group, empowering with capital major strategic deployments of the province and city such as "manufacturing as the foundation of the city", "manufacturing as the master of the household" and the "high-quality development project for hundreds of counties, thousands of towns and villages". At present, relying on government-guided funds such as the Sci-Tech Innovation Fund of Funds, the SOE Innovation Fund and district-level investment funds, as well as market-based funds such as the Urban Renewal Fund, the Rural Revitalization Fund and the Life and Health Fund, Guangzhou Financial Holdings Fund leverages social capital contributions through sub-funds and direct investment funds to provide financial support to enterprises.

About Kejin Holdings

Kejin Holdings is a professional equity investment management institution under Guangzhou Fund and one of the earliest venture capital institutions established in China. The company practices the investment philosophy of "investment plus investment banking plus trading", adheres to the strategic direction of "investing early, investing small and investing in hard technology", and focuses on strategic emerging industries such as biomedicine, next-generation information technology, new energy, new materials and advanced manufacturing. Since its establishment, it has supported the growth of a large number of quality technology innovation enterprises, with a cumulative total of 210 investment projects. At present, in the biomedical and big health field, it has invested in Wondfo Biotech, Yunkang Group, Techpool Bio-Pharma, GenScript ProBio and other quality star enterprises.

About HK-Macau Capital

HK-Macau Capital (IFSC) was established in 2014 and is a private equity investment institution focusing on the biotechnology and life sciences fields (fund filing number: P1065723). The company takes "basic science-driven value investment" as its investment philosophy, discovers "technology entrepreneurs", and focuses on investment opportunities in leading enterprises in synthetic biology, neuroscience, cell and gene therapy, regenerative medicine, biomaterials, reproductive and ophthalmological medicine and other fields. HK-Macau Capital continuously follows unmet clinical needs and contributes to improving human health. Its investment team includes professionals in life sciences, medicine, biotechnology, engineering, mathematics, finance and law, focusing on researching top-tier investment opportunities in niche fields, and is oriented toward achieving a high win rate to create sustained and stable returns for investors.

About Reforgene

Reforgene Medicine is one of China’s leading innovative gene editing drug companies, driven by gene editing technology and dedicated to bringing novel medicines to life. Reforgene has a high-caliber team that applied gene editing to explore the treatment of genetic diseases at an early stage internationally, and has accumulated pioneering achievements in hematology, ophthalmology and other disease areas, with strong technical capabilities in gene editing tool innovation, drug development strategy, novel animal model construction, and multi-level efficacy and safety assessment, operating both in vivo and ex vivo drug development. Reforgene’s mission is to deliver accessible, curative medicines for patients with serious diseases through innovative genetic technologies. The company currently has pipeline programs across genetic diseases, complex diseases and oncology. Its innovative beta-thalassemia medicine has achieved globally leading clinical progress, it achieved the world’s first cure of an alpha-thalassemia patient, and the IND application for its first-in-class Usher syndrome gene editing medicine has been approved by regulators in both China and the United States.